Energetics of Interrupted Development in Megachile rotundata

Abstract

Insects in temperate regions may experience temperature fluctuations during springtime development which can lead to low temperature stress. Previous research has shown that short artificial fluctuations in temperature during interrupted development are advantageous when compared to static temperatures, but it is unclear why. One idea is it allows insects to repair chill injury and maintain cellular membrane potential. My goal was to understand what macromolecules are maintaining ion balance through measuring the respiratory quotient (RQ), trehalose, glycogen, simple sugars, and lipids using biochemical assays. The development of Megachile rotundata was stimulated for two weeks before interrupting with either fluctuating or static temperature regimes. RQ was measured repeatedly over two weeks and subsets of bees from each treatment were frozen at the same time points for biochemical analyses. The RQ varied over time and lipids and trehalose had the biggest differences between static and fluctuating temperatures as well as over time.